News

Gray wolf takes to California but is unlikely to find a mate in the state

By Bettina Boxall Los Angeles Times

Posted:
01/03/2013 06:52:49 AM PST

Updated:
01/03/2013 06:53:25 AM PST

LOS ANGELES -- Like many out-of-state visitors, the lone gray wolf that trotted across the border from Oregon has taken a liking to California.

He went back and forth between the two states a handful of times after his initial crossing into Siskiyou County on Dec. 28, 2011. But since spring, the young male has remained in the Golden State, loping across forests and scrublands, up and down mountains and across rural highways in California's sparsely populated northeast.

The first wild wolf documented in California in nearly 90 years, he has roamed as far south as Tehama County -- about halfway between the border and Sacramento -- searching for other wolves, and a mate.

"I guess he's being the Lewis and Clark of wolves in California," said wolf advocate Amaroq Weiss.

State and federal biologists are using a tracking collar to follow OR7 -- his official designation -- and they're impressed. Not only has he traveled more than 3,000 miles since leaving his pack in northeastern Oregon, he's demonstrated exceptional homing abilities.

"He can find the same locations (after) weeks, sometimes a couple of months, coming back from a completely different direction," said Karen Kovacs, wildlife program manager for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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Since summer, OR7 has spent most of his time in western Plumas and eastern Tehama counties on a mix of public and private lands, with some jaunts into neighboring Butte County. He seems to dine mostly on mule deer, following their seasonal migrations from mountains to lower elevations.

Fortunately for him, he has avoided people and livestock. The wolf was accused of killing a cow and her calf and some other livestock, but Kovacs said investigations found no evidence that OR7 was the culprit.

There have been a number of reported sightings of the 3﻿1/2-year-old wolf, but only a few have been confirmed. One was in a state wildlife area in November, when a man hunting with his daughter saw a group of deer emerge from a wood land. Behind it was a single deer running from what appeared to be a wolf. The animal broke off the chase, looked in the direction of the hunters and trotted away.

The excited pair reported the sighting, and radio signals placed OR7 in the area. "The timing, the behavior, the location; we're pretty sure it was OR7," Kovacs said.

Although he has journeyed much farther from his home pack than is typical, the wolf is doing what young males do, searching for a mate and other wolves with which to form a pack. He returns to areas where he has left his scent, hoping to find signs of other wolves.

It is possible that other gray wolves without radio collars have crossed into the Northern California wilds from Oregon, where there are a number of packs.